Redistricting hearing in the Rio Grande Valley up in the air

Senate redistricting chief Kel Seliger on Thursday floated the prospect of taking his election map committee to the Rio Grande Valley early next week for a field hearing — but only if he can get enough lawmakers to commit to show up.

If that hearing happens, Seliger said it would be scheduled for Monday in Harlingen. But that’s still up in the air.

“It’s an awfully busy week in a special session,” Seliger told reporters after a Thursday redistricting hearing in Austin. “We’re having a little trouble making sure we have a quorum in Harlingen. But if we do, we will be there.”

It would mark the first — and probably only — redistricting field hearing in the Rio Grande Valley during the special session.

The Senate hits the road Friday for a session in Corpus Christi and then wraps up its road show in Houston on Saturday. A committee vote is expected in Austin on Wednesday.

The House will start its field hearings Thursday in Dallas, followed next week with sessions in San Antonio and Houston. A House committee vote could happen by the end of next week — setting up both chambers to start floor debate around June 17.

During Thursday’s hearing, senators on the redistricting committee prodded Seliger to add even more field hearings to the schedule, aside from the potential meeting in the Valley.

Democrat Judith Zaffirini wants one in her hometown of Laredo. Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, requested the Senate hold a hearing in his neck of the woods. And Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, floated the idea of holding hearings in his home district and in Tyler.

But with the clock ticking — a special session can only run 30 days and we’re already approaching the second week — those requests seem unlikely.

“We can’t do it in every community,” Seliger said, noting that the House is already planning a hearing in Dallas.